Essential Workbench

I have been a woodworker since my early teens, nearly 40 years now. This was the first real woodworking bench I ever made which I completed last year and it took about 4 months to build. The top is 3” thick, 25” wide and 66” long. It stands 34.5” tall which is a perfect height for my 6’ height.

The top and base is constructed from hard white maple and the vise jaws are made from African Mahogany. It weighs 350 lbs. The end vise is a Veritas twin-screw bench vise and the front vise is a Veritas quick-release vise.

The base is and hand chopped mortise & tenon. The front apron is 6” tall and dovetail construction. I incorporated both square and round dog holes. The top is dead flat which was accomplished with my Lie Nelson #7 Jointer plane.

The top is finished with a boiled linseed oil and gum turpentine mixture. I sprayed the base with a water white water based polyurethane from General Finishes which is why it is whiter than the top.

The total cost of materials was just about $1800 USD including the Veritas vises, bench dogs (4 square and 6 round), Veritas hold downs.

I have always loved working wood but can’t believe how much more joy there is when doing it on a solid bench. Its is such a breeze hand planing boards when the work surface stays put no matter how much force I put into the stroke.

After all these years this was probably the most satisfying project I have ever done.

The two vises were about $525. The other bench accessories and hardware were about another $250. All the hardwood was about $950 and the finish materials about $50. The mahogany was a nice touch but about $50. It would have been less than half that if I used maple.

Dave, congratulations on your accomplishments over the past decades that have obviously culminated in an I-Owed-Myself-This bench. It is a real joy to work on a solid surface! And yours is truly beautiful. Well done!

-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. -- OldTools Archive